


A Growing Heart

by Cinnamon_Lover



Category: Disney - All Media Types, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: A way for Oswald to make it into Kingdom Hearts, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Kingdom Hearts III, Vanitas (Kingdom Hearts) Redemption, i'll update the tags as i go and see fit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2020-03-17 13:47:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18966478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinnamon_Lover/pseuds/Cinnamon_Lover
Summary: Vanitas thought that he had died in the Keyblade Graveyard.So it's just natural that he's surprised that he woke up in a forest. Or that he woke up at all





	1. Nothingness, and then darkness

**Author's Note:**

> Listen. English is not my first lenguage so if you see any grammatical errors or something that's probably why.  
> Also, literally everyone in this fandom is in a state of denial re: Vanitas death and i'm no different.

_You heart… it was still growing._

_It has room to grow more._

_It just needs time._

_I will give it to you._

_It comes at a price. You will lose the strength you had._

_But do not worry. You will gain it again._

_You will gain a lot of things._

_You just need time…_

//////

Vanitas woke up to the feeling of raindrops hitting his face.

He groaned. Right, those two had broken his helmet.

He tried opening his eyes. His eyelids felt heavy. His entire body felt heavy.

He managed to, eventually. He gazed around.

It was raining, he was lying face first in the ground, and there were trees.

A forest, then. How’d he end up in a forest? He was at the Keyblade Graveyard.

He tried getting up. He felt like there was no strength in his arms.

He groaned, and soldiered on.

He managed to sit, resting his back against a rock.

It was still raining.

He never realized how… annoying? Bothersome? it was to have raindrops constantly falling on you. He would always wear his helmet in this kind of weather.

He would always wear his helmet _period_ , actually. He could count with one hand the times he took it out. It had survived a lot, but apparently the stupid thing had decided to break under Sora and Ventus’ keyblades.

Anyways, the dumb rain was still going, and he swore he was about to go insane under the ridiculous raindrops.

He stood up whit a lot of effort (why was he so weak?), and tried to walk towards the nearest tree to find cover under it’s leafs.

Even such a simple action as walking felt like an impossible task. Every step brought nausea whit it, and the unmistakable feeling that he was going to lose his balance and fall.

He called upon his keyblade (it took way more than it should have) and, undignified as it was, used it as a makeshift walking stick.

He felt downright embarrassed of using his weapon in such way.

Wait.

He… felt…?

The realization hit Vanitas in the face. He almost jumped out of surprise (full blown surprise, not the shallow ghost of an emotion that he usually felt). How? Why? He had lived his entire existence without emotions, why could he suddenly feel? For what purpose?

He tried recalling his last moments before waking up here. Had they cast a spell or something on him to make him like this? And if so, why? Was this a form of punishment? Or maybe his Master had actually won, and he was brought back like this to serve him? But if Master Xehanort had bought him back, shouldn’t he be here to greet him into this new world? And why would he bring him back, anyways? He-

His train of thought was derailed by the sound of footsteps.

He jumped again, this time in fear ( _Real_ fear; he was amazed whit how similar it felt to that time when that beast screamed in his face) and twirled around rapidly, adrenaline numbing everything into how he used to feel (ghosts of emotions, nothing else), keyblade at the ready.

“Who’s there?!” He nearly shouted, “Show yourself!”

He heard the footsteps approach him by the front, but he only saw the hooded figure when lighting stroke.

It wasn’t a member of the Organization, that much was clear. The hood was different, for starters. It was blue. It didn’t cover his whole face,(it seemed to reach just under his nose) Vanitas could clearly see his mouth and two other long and slender… things that framed his face and reached his chest. His face seemed completely white, yet the other things were black. They both looked like they had a… fuzzy kind of texture.

And he also didn’t recall anyone in the Organization being so… tiny. The hood was also part of an cape, it seemed, and it was fastened on the stranger’s front whit a pin that vaguely resembled a flower. He couldn’t see a lot of his clothing underneath due to the low light here, but the sleeves seemed long and loose. It didn’t look like he was wearing shoes.

The figure was still for (what seemed like) a long while. His mouth was slightly agape in what looked like surprise, and his head had tilted to the side I what Vanitas thought could be confusion. After a while, the figure (slowly, very slowly) raised his hands (they were black…?) in front of his chest.

“Don’t worry,” he said, his voice clear above the wet sound of rain hitting the earth, “I won’t hurt you.”

Vanitas felt taken aback by how… _gentle_ he was being. He recovered quickly enough. “Yeah, you better not!” he replied, waving his keyblade on the figure’s direction.

Silence settled heavily on the rainy forest. The figure put his hands down slowly, in what seemed like… shock? Maybe?

Then, his mouth seemed to twitch into an smile. He extended his arm and light gathered in his hands, forming a keyblade.

Vanitas didn’t even look at it.

Vanitas didn’t even think.

He lunged forwards, keyblade raised so he could bring it down against the figure, so he can make him retreat because if he’s got a keyblade he can probably feel his darkness, what he’s made of, and he will attack him, there’s no doubt.

But there’s only so much adrenaline can do. It can numb his pain, but it can’t make the muddy ground any less slippery.

He slips, like a colossal idiot.

He slips and he falls and he’s too weak and feels (ugh) too sick to get back up.

So he just stays there. He hears the stranger approaching in hurried footsteps, probably seizing his chance, and he just curls upon himself, a weak attempt to shield himself

He feels fear

He’s scared.

He discovers he hates being scared.

The stranger seems to be close, and he can almost already see the keyblade raised, see it coming down on him quickly, so quickly-

The stranger reaches him, and yet his keyblade isn’t raised. His keyblade isn't there at all, actually. He kneels besides Vanitas, (which is ridiculous, taking in mind his height) and softly asks, “Are you okay?”

Vanitas is glad he fell on his left side, because his helmet is still in pristine condition on his right, so the figure can’t see how his eyes widened when he asks flatly, “What.”

“That was… quite the fall,” the figure replies, “You didn’t get up, I just thought-”

Vanitas shakes his head, “No, that’s not it.”

“Oh?”

“I- You have a keyblade,” Vanitas replied, “You must surely feel it, right?”

“Uh,” The figure stammered, at a lose of words, “Feel what?”

“My darkness.”

The figure fell quiet once again. After a while, he spoke.

“Can’t you feel mine?”

Vanitas breath catches on his throat. Because, well, if he concentrates, he can feel it: more relaxed than his own, a calm ocean where his own is always boiling, bubbling in a never ending need to find it’s way out. But the stranger’s darkness… it’s so similar, yet different. There’s a lot of it, too, almost as much as his own. And it seems like it has been used a lot. So.

Vanitas looks at the stranger. He didn’t notice the stranger’s eyes before, but… they’re yellow.

Like his master’s. Like the Heartless. Like his own.

The color of darkness. Shining trough the windows of his soul

Vanitas relaxes slightly.

“What’s your name?” he asks, apropos of absolutely nothing, but he just doesn’t feel like calling him a ‘figure’ or ‘stranger’ anymore.

The figure smiles, just like he had before when he called his keyblade.

“I’m Oswald.” He says, “And you?”

He allows himself an smile the stranger- _Oswald_ \- won’t see.

“I’m Vanitas.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may make a drawing of Oswald's appearence in this.  
> Maybe  
> Perhaps  
> (don't count on it)


	2. Step and stumble, do you want to go on?

Rain was annoying.

He never had before an appreciation for that, seeing how he (almost) always wore the helmet when it rained. In the end, that’s what it was _for._ But now with it being broken, he got to experience rain, and he hated it.

It didn’t seem to deter Oswald at all, however. Then again, he had a cape with hood included, so.

“How much longer until we get… wherever you want to take me?” Vanitas asked, letting his annoyance creep into his tone.

“Probably like ten, maybe fifteen minutes,” he replied, “And I told you already, I’m taking you into a castle.”

He had? Vanitas had felt so weak and bad that, while he had technically heard what he said, he regained none of it…

Wait, a _castle?_

“…Where are we, anyways?” he said, trying to muster up enough energy to call his Keyblade if necessary, “In what world, I mean.”

Vanitas was beginning to suspect they may be at the King Mickey’s world, and if that was the case… he didn’t think he’ll get a warm welcome, taking in mind everything that he and his Master had done.

Oswald seemed to… slow his pace, a little, and that didn’t help Vanitas suspicion at all.

“Right… you’d like to know, huh?” Oswald muttered, and Vanitas stopped completely.

“What do you mean?” He asked, narrowing his eyes.

Oswald turned to look at him, “This world is known as the World at the Edge,” Oswald began to explain, “Basically, is a world that sits at the edge of the Dark Realm, but still technically in the Realm of Light.”

Vanitas frown deepened, not because he distrusted, but because he was… confused.

“I thought Twilight Town sat in between Light and Dark.”

“Yeah, well…” Oswald looked to the side, bringing a hand to his chin, “How do I explain this… it’s like… like a scale, basically?”

Vanitas raised an eyebrow (not like it’d be noticeable, with the side of his face still covered), but Oswald drew a line on the ground and resumed, “Y’see, Twilight Town sits right in the middle,” he draw a mark in the middle of the line, “Most worlds are on this side of the spectrum, the light side, where Heartless are increasingly weaker the closer to the light they are, and it’s easier to travel in between worlds,” he drew several more marks on the left side of the line, “While some other worlds –not that many, really- are on this side, the side where we are right now, where Heartless are more reckless and travelling to other worlds is… basically impossible,” he had a…complicated expression on his face, one Vanitas couldn’t put a name on, while he drew other marks on the line, “and we’re here,” he drew a mark near the end of the line, “The last world in the Realm of Light, mere moments away from the Realm of Darkness.”

“… I see,” Vanitas said. He wasn’t sure he would have gotten all of that if it wasn’t for the helpful graphic Oswald had done, “So, you said something about impossible travelling?”

Oswald nodded, that awkward expression back on his face, “We’re too far away from other worlds, and the space in between has too much darkness. Heartless basically roam free, and they’re too strong,” He looked up to Vanitas, “So if there was a place you wanted to go back too…” He leaves the sentence to float in the air, unfinished.

Vanitas considered it. _Was_ there any place he wished to return to? Everything seemed fine, so his Master had failed, and was probably dead as well (that made a weird feeling of dread build up in his stomach). Ventus and his friends would probably kill him if they saw him, and everyone from the Organization had probably been defeated or joined forces with the Guardians of Light.

“…I don’t think there’s anywhere I wish to return to,” he replied, finally, “So, I’m more or less okay with this.”

Oswald seemed surprised by this, but then quickly changed to sad smile, “Oh. In that case-” He froze mid-sentence, glancing around.

“…Oswald?” Vanitas asked, tentatively.

Oswald brought his finger to his mouth, motioning him to be silent. In a quick movement, he pulled his hood down, and- where the two things hanging down the side of his face ears the whole time?!

“… I hear something approaching us,” He said, looking sidelong, “We should move.”

He began walking away. Vanitas looked at him, unmoving. “Something. Like a Heartless?”

“Yeah,” Oswald replied, turning to him, “Are you coming or…?”

Vanitas was incredulous, “Are you serious? We’re two Keyblade wielders; we can take on a Heartless with no problem.”

“On a normal Heartless, probably, but whatever’s coming sounds like trouble already.”

“You must be kidding me,” Vanitas said, with disgust in his voice, “there’s no way it’s gonna be that strong.”

“Did you already forget the part where Heartless are stronger here?” Oswald asked, frowning.

Vanitas rolled his eyes, “Please, it can’t be that bad. I’m sure we can-”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Oswald interrupted him, irritated, “let’s go, or else-”

“Or else what?” He challenged, “You’re gonna run away like a coward?”

His frown deepened, “You don’t know me,” He growled.

“I know you’re running away from a fight,” Vanitas said, letting a small grin split his face. It was fun to mess with people, actually, “A fight we would probably win. That makes you a coward.”

“No, that makes me a smart person that knows his limitations,” He said, fixing him with a glare. Oh, he was _mad,_ “And thinking like that makes _you_ a reckless idiot.”

Vanitas mood did a complete 180, and he found himself building enough energy to call Void Gear. Oswald looked at the Keblade in his hand and then back at him. Vanitas assumed a battle stance, “Is that so? Well-”

A vibration in the ground made him pause.

Another, much closer, nearly made him fall.

He looked behind him.

And nearly fell again.

The Heartless was huge, filling out Vanitas entire field of vision. It looked like a Behemoth, but bigger, with sharper claws and teeth and-

- _and it was fire based apparently._ Flames were coming out of its half-opened maw, and tiny cracks of yellow, like those from a volcanic surface, were running through its claws.

All that, of course, meant it was literally burning around it, and Vanitas was so shocked by the appearance of that thing that he didn’t notice at first. But now that he did, he fell backwards, trying to get away, hissing. His whole back burned.

“Vanitas!” He heard Oswald call. He turned around to tell him he was fine and could definitely handle this (lies), when the creature roared loud enough to drown out any other sound. Vanitas covered his ears, grimacing.

The Behemoth raised into its hindlegs, apparently with the intent to crush Vanitas. But it was too slow, and Vanitas took his chance and rolled away.

Mere seconds afterwards, he felt the shockwave through the ground. Taking one deep breath, he tightened the grip on his Keyblade and turned to face the Heartless.

“You dare challenge me?” He stood as straight as he could, “You’re committing a grave mistake.”

It seemed to look at him for a second, before flicking its paw, sending a wall of fire his way

It was too large to avoid in time, and he was too weak to call any sort of barrier or a Dark Corridor. So he opted for the third best option: he turned the opposite direction and ran.

It would eventually lose intensity and die off by itself, right? It should anyways. He just had to run a few feet and-

-and avoid tripping like he just did. Perfect.

He looked back. The barrier was too close, it would hit before he could get up. He tried covering himself as much as he could with his Keyblade.

“Reflect!”

A noise, like something hitting glass without shattering it, echoed around Vanitas. He looked up.

Oswald was holding his Keyblade, apparently having just used it to call a magic barrier around them. Vanitas allowed himself a deep breath before standing.

Oswald turned to him. Vanitas was expecting him to be mad, he did disobey direct orders and almost got hurt for it in the end, but he seemed more… worried, if anything.

“Are you okay?” Oswald asked, sounding nearly breathless, “That thing almost hit you!”

“I’m fine,” He was lying. His back still hurt and terror was still clawing aimlessly at his heart, “I could have taken care of it myself, you know.”

Oswald frowned. Ah, _there_ was the anger Vanitas was expecting, “You almost got burned alive, Vanitas.” He deadpanned

Vanitas rolled his eyes, “No I didn’t, my armor would’ve protected me,” Sure, it would still have hurt, but he wouldn’t have died from it, “And besides, I- WATCH OUT!”

Oswald turned just in time to see the Behemoth approaching at a terrifying speed for such a big creature. Once it was in front of them, it raised its paw, somehow literally set it on fire, and brought it down.

Oswald did a fancy upward motion with his Keyblade, making the barrier bigger; big enough to protect them from the blow.

The Heartless growled, and began clawing at the barrier, getting little cracks here and there.

“Vanitas, run!” Oswald grunted, doing his best to keep the barrier up against the monsters’ attack.

“Wha- I’m not leaving without you!”

“Vanitas-”

“I don’t know where to go!” He shouted, “And besides, I already told you, I don’t run from battles!”

With that, Vanitas ran around the barrier (Heartless were dumb, it didn’t even think about doing that), and, despite Oswald’s loud protests, raised his Keyblade and smacked it against the creature’s paw, which was still clawing at the barrier.

It turned to look at Vanitas, looking almost… offended that he had interrupted.

Vanitas still brought his Keyblade down on its paws, again and again. It didn’t seem to be hurting it a lot. It had stopped clawing, but its paw still rested against the barrier, looking down on Vanitas like he was an annoying bug, or something.

Vanitas didn’t mind. For him, everything was just fine.

The Heartless finally did its equivalent of rolling its eyes, and pulled his paw away to roar at Vanitas’ face, a promise of worse things to come.

Vanitas wasn’t intimidated at all. As it roared on his face, he took a step back, pointed his Keyblade at its flaming mouth and whispered,

“Waterra,”

And just like that, the creature stepped back, seemingly coughing and wheezing, trying to get the damaging water out of its mouth. Vanitas grinned.

He heard the noise of a spell being dismissed, and turned. The barrier was no more, and Oswald had his Keyblade down, “Okay, that was a good idea, you did a number on it, great job, can we get going now?”

Vanitas shook his head, much to Oswald’s frustration, “The fight isn’t over,” He resumed a fighting stance, staring against the still distracted Heartless.

“Oh, come on!”

“Are you going to help me, or are you going to run away?” ‘Like a coward’ he thought, but he didn’t speak it out loud. Despite everything, it had been brave of him to offer to stay and distract the monster while telling Vanitas to make a run for it. That, too, he didn’t speak out loud.

Oswald glared at him, and yet, grumbling all the way, assumed a fighting stance himself. Vanitas grinned again. Oh, this was going to be fun.

He turned. It seemed like the Behemoth had just gotten all the water out of its mouth, and it looked pissed. It roared again, and this time, it was Oswald who shoot a Waterga to its mouth.

It evaded it, so it didn’t got into its mouth, but still hit. It cried out, and Vanitas took his opportunity. He jumped high, and hit its stupid face, over and over, staying floating in the air thanks to it.

It roared, weaker this time, and raised its paw to try and slap Vanitas off. He avoided in time, and it just hit itself.

Vanitas landed. He had enough MP now to cast a few spells. He turned to Oswald and nodded, and he seemed to get it. Oswald jumped towards the creature, making a jump so big seem effortless, and began repeatedly hitting as well.

Vanitas took his aim, “Water!” he called out. Again, it didn’t get its mouth, but it did do some degree of damage.

They kept that strategy going for a while, but of course, eventually the Heartless figured it out. The fifth time, instead of taking the bait and trying to get Vanitas to stop hitting its face, it ignored him and brought its paw down towards Oswald.

Oswald’s eyes widened, “Oh shoot!” He avoided it, jumping backwards, but it struck again, and again.

“Hey! Quit that!” Vanitas growled. When it didn’t listen, he casted Water, getting its mouth since he was close anyway.

Again, it began coughing and stepped back, and Vanitas descended, staring at the Behemoth for a few seconds in a way he thought was threating, and then turned to Oswald, “Are you okay?”

Oswald nodded, “Do you mind moving to the left a little?” He said, gesturing.

Vanitas with an arched eyebrow, Vanitas obeyed. Oswald casted a Waterra towards the Heartless. It tried to grow, but since it was still coughing, it came out strangled.

Oswald looked at Vanitas, “I thought it would be a good idea to attack it while it’s distracted,” He said, as if to explain.

Vanitas chuckled, wishing it came out as cruel as he hoped, “It’s not good, it’s _great,”_ He said, before casually casting Water himself.

Oswald grinned, and then, they put their plan in motion, shooting as many Water spells as they could.

Vanitas felt like he hasn’t used this many spells of the same kind in his entire life. He also didn’t care. He felt so… so… _satisfied_ , fighting a battle that he knew for certain he would win. Even if _he_ ran out of Mana, it didn’t seem like Oswald would for a while. Even so, he’d rather take the final hit, just because.

With that thought in mind, he began approaching the creature.

“Vanitas, what are you-”

“I got an idea, just trust me!”

Once close enough, he shoot at its mouth again, smiling sadistically.

“One more like this, and it’s done for!” He informed Oswald.

He took his aim, gathered up the last of his Magic and…

…got pushed across the place in one quick movement of the Behemoth’s paw, strongly enough to knock the wind out of him, just to stop when he hit a tree.

His ears were ringing faintly, and colorful spots seemed to dance in his vision. He was no stranger to taking hits like that, but it was always disorientating when it happened.

He grunted, doing his best to push himself off the ground, shaking his head to try to make the spots go away. He took a deep breath, tried to discern actual noise from the ringing, and turned to the creature.

… Either he had been out of it for far longer that he thought, or Oswald had insanely fast reflexes, because when he turned, Oswald was in the middle of beating the Heartless to the curb. His hits were imprecise, but fast, turning his Keyblade into nothing but a blur.

He stared at the scene before him blankly for a few seconds, before reacting and running forward, trying to call his Keyblade as fast as possible.

Calling his Keyblade sent a weird feeling all over him, seemingly starting on his chest- on his _hearth_ \- and then spreading from there. It was almost painful. Almost.

He ignored it, fist closing around Void Gears’ handle, and raised his Keyblade, delivering a hit towards the creature.

He felt, more than saw, the Heartless eyes on him.

“You thought you had gotten rid of me, huh?!” He screamed, trying to push all his anger at being pushed like that into that one sentence.

Oswald, who was apparently too fixated with killing the Heartless to notice Vanitas, turned.

Vanitas noticed… something, in his eyes, in the way they were slightly wider than before, in the cold hardness in them, looking like someone had pull the curtains over a window to hide the mess inside.

Oswald looked at him, just long enough for the creature to push him away like it had done with Vanitas.

“Oswald!” Vanitas yelled, running over to him. Unlike Vanitas, Oswald seemed to have more control over the situation, stopping himself by stabbing his Keyblade into the ground before he could hit a random tree or rock like Vanitas had.

“Are you okay?” They both asked at the same time. They spend a second in silence before Vanitas looked away in embarrassment and Oswald chuckled, amused.

A noise from the creature made them both look its way. The fire that burned inside of it seemed to be dimming, but it was still there.

Vanitas took a step, but then a hand grabbed his wrist, “Vanitas, that’s enough, we should go,” Oswald’s voice had a certain edge to it that Vanitas couldn’t place.

Vanitas growled as he wrestled his wrist out of Oswald’s’ hand. “It’s _almost done_ , I can do it, _let me_ do it,”

Oswald reached out, “Vanitas, stop-”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Vanitas interrupted, beginning to walk faster until he was face to face with the Behemoth.

It was severely weakened, he noticed. It didn’t seem to be able to do much more than stand there and growl.

Vanitas pointed his Keyblade at it, “Don’t take this personal,”

The creature lunched itself at him.

It startled a noise out of him. He felt a sharp pain in his chest.

Oswald yelled something. His name, maybe.

He stared at the Behemoth’s face, at its eyes, for a solid second before it went up in smoke.

It had stabbed itself on his Keyblade when it had jumped him. Not what he imagined, but he’ll take it.

He should feel victorious. He felt like something was wrong, mostly. The pain in his chest wasn’t receding. He looked down.

It had clawed him, and that would be alright generally but it had managed to break through his armor. He was bleeding.

He had only seen his blood a handful of times before. But it was still obviously not a normal persons’ blood. It was pitch black, for starters.

He felt dizzy. The wounds were pretty big. They covered his entire chest. They were bleeding a lot.

He closed his eyes.

He heard quick footsteps (Oswald’s, probably) approaching.

His grip on Void Gear went slack. He let it disappear.

All feelings in his body seemed to be numbing away, painfully slow, as he lost his grip on consciousness.

He didn’t quite know when he passed out. Just knew that he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had many ideas of powered-up Heartless for this chapter, but i went with 'Fire Behemoth' bc of this week's Raid Boss in khux. And fire based just because why not.


	3. Connecting with you

_Everything was black._

_Everything was black for an unspecified period of time. Could have been seconds, hours, days, years. It didn’t seem to matter._

_But, eventually, light resurged. Slowly, like waking up from a dream, he opened his eyes and saw the world._

_The light all around him seemed to have an orange tint. It could be sunrise or sunset, but in reality, it didn’t matter._

_He was standing close to an abyss, he’ll say dangerously so even, but it wasn’t like the fall could kill him, or like it would matter if it did. Still, he wanted to walk off, to explore. He didn’t know where he was and he was yearning to find out._

_But he couldn’t._

_It was like being frozen in place, like a cruel paralyzing spell had been placed on him. But then, winds shouldn’t affect him, and he could see strands of hair moving in his vision._

_(And it was curious, and a little terrifying, that they didn’t look black like his hair was like. What had happened?)_

_He tried his best to look around. It seemed to be the only thing he could still do. He hadn’t notice before, but there was a Keyblade there, stuck firmly in the ground. Its hilt had a flower crown._

_And he didn’t notice before either but…_

_Kneeling in front of it was the so-called Master Aqua._

_He looked a little to the right, and, just as he expected, there was Terra._

_Now more than never he wished he could move. Wished he could call his Keyblade, fight both of them. Defeat them and find Ventus, do what he’s supposed to do. What he trained his whole life to do._

_But alas, he was stuck like this. Cold fear gripped his heart with an iron fist. There was only one reason why he could be with them. And that was, they somehow found him. They were going to end what was started._

_He was going to die, perhaps truly this time._

_He wanted to growl, to scream. No, he didn’t want to die by their hand. Dying by Ventus, or by Sora’s hand, was different. It was what was supposed to happen. But this… it was wrong._

_Aqua stood. He tried to take a step back on instinct, but yet again couldn’t._

_But instead of attacking him, she just took a step forward, closer to the Keyblade._

_Without wanting to, his own body moved forwards as well._

_He was certain, for a terrifying second, that he was going to walk off the hedge. That Aqua was somehow controlling him and was going to force him to jump down. The fall couldn’t kill if he were able to cast Slowfall. As it was, he most certainly would wind up at least injured._

_But instead, he stopped at a short distance from the Keyblade. His hand raised, and he…_

_He was wearing a very familiar looking bracelet, in a chess pattern he knew. And he was holding a green Wayfinder._

_Slowly, he came to a conclusion. As to why everything was so… weird. Why he couldn’t move by his own volition, why Aqua and Terra were by his side not bothering to attack him, why…_

_…Why he was in the Land of Departure. Why the Keyblade in front of him was Master’s Defender._

_With a methodical motion, the Wayfinder was attached, whit the other ones, to the Keyblade._

_“That’s that, then.” Aqua said, softly, lingering pain on her voice._

_No one answered her. He could feel, faintly, distantly, emotions that didn’t belong to him. Grief and pain and joy and shame and anger were conflicted, were at war, inside his brother’s heart._

_“Come on, let’s go back home,” Aqua talked again. He felt distant joy, a forgotten safety, at the word ‘Home’._

_“We’re already home,” Terra talked, “as long as we’re together, that’s home for me.”_

_The distant feeling of a smile, “Yeah, for me too,” said his voice, in a voice that sounded slightly wrong. The again, if your voice was different when it was played back at you, of course someone else’s voice would sound different when you heard it from their perspective._

_Aqua’s smile widened a little, “It is for me too, but we all need to rest now,” She replied, “Let us go.”_

_“Alright then,” Terra began walking, side by side with Aqua, and his body followed a few paces behind. “How did you even know how Keyblade Wielder’s funerals are like, anyways?”_

_“There were books in our library,” She said, “I also asked Master Yen Sid, and he allowed me to use his own library as well.”_

_“And how is it?” Terra asked._

_“Oh, it’s simply lovely, it has a great window the watch the sky from it while you read, and it has so many books- more than in our library, I think it’s because Master Yen Sid might be older than Master Eraqus, but…”_

_He wanted to groan out his boredom at this conversation, but then again he couldn’t, so he settled for tuning her out. But he wasn’t the only one because…_

_…Something caught his brother’s interest, a tiny creature staring at him from some pillars._

_It looked almost like a living doll, mostly like a cat, with a cape and ridiculous pink pouch with a white star on it. And yet, not only_ his _heart, but the sad excuse of his felt attracted to it, like there was a missing bond there that wished to be rediscovered._

_Once it realized he was looking at it, however, it hid behind the pillars. As if that would somehow erase its presence, erase the memory he now has of it. It is all for nothing, as it peaks out immediately afterwards._

_His body opened his arms, “Come here,” he said, endlessly soft._

_The creature hesitates, a second, before running towards him, its tiny body colliding against his with more strength he’ll expect for such a tiny being._

_It nuzzled its face against his chest for a moment, before looking up at him._

_“Ventus…” It whispered out, its eyes filled with an unknown emotion, and he—_

:::::::::::::::::::::

\--He woke up, for real this time.

Everything looks dark yet again for a split second, the time it takes for his eyes to adjust to darkness. He was always quick to; he was darkness himself in the end.

He stared at the ceiling for a solid half minute before realizing why something felt so off about this.

He was outside, in a sort of forest when he passed out. How did he get here…? He remembers being wet with raindrops and in pain because of that stupid Heartless. But he’s warm and dry now, laying down on something soft, and nothing hurts. Although something feels… wrong, still.

He raised his hand to his chest, to where the Behemoth had clawed him, and- Oh, that explains it.

It always took some time for his armor to reform after it was broken, it shouldn’t come as any surprise, really, that it hasn’t yet fixed itself.

He felt slightly better knowing that. It means it hasn’t been that long since he passed out like a colossal idiot there. It was fine.

Groaning a little, he sat on the bed. He looked down upon himself. The broken parts of the armor revealed scars underneath, and that shouldn’t be a surprise either, that thing had done a good quantity of damage to him. It made sense, he guessed.

But something was still off, he thought. And as he put his right hand on his cheek to think about it, he realized.

His helmet was fully gone.

He took a deep breath. Ok then, it had probably broken when he was pushed backwards by the Heartless jumping him, it was fine. Maybe. It’ll just reform.

So, to summarize: Broken armor, no helmet, but any injuries were taken care of at some point by someone (Oswald, probably), and he was no longer getting rained on.

He looked at the room better. The bed he was in seemed to be on a corner. Right in front of him, there was a clock, and- he was pretty sure these kinds of clocks were called Grandfather Clocks. They were old. And this one was just sitting in a bedroom. And if it was still functional, then it was 1:41 AM. If he knew at what time he had arrived, he would be able to make an approximation of how long he was out of it, but he didn’t know, so knowing the time was a bit useless.

( _“Now remember, Vanitas. The long hand tells you the minutes; the short one tells you the hour. When you read a clock, you always check the short one first.”_

_“Alright, but why are you making me learn this, Master?”_

_“These are skills that are useful in life. And anyways, your duty isn’t to question it, it’s just to learn, are we clear, Vanitas?”_

_“Yes, Master.”)_

He shook his head a little. Now was not the time for a trip down memory lane.

On the wall at the left of the clock, there was a full body mirror. On the wall at the right, a big closet. Next to the closet, a desk.  Both seemed as old as the clock, whit complex carvings on the wood that made them.

He looked at his right side. There was, understandably, a bed side drawer there, also made of wood.

He looked at the ground. A plush, purple carpet was all he saw.

 Right by his left side, there was a narrow, tall window. It wasn’t narrow enough that he couldn’t climb out of it if he wanted to, so that was fine.

He looked out of it. It seemed as if only just stopped raining, there were still drops altering his vision on the glass. But what he could see…

The sky was filled with clouds still, but the little places where the clouds were broken revealed a completely dark sky, it didn’t seem like there were stars anywhere. And- something still was obstructing his vision of the sky. After looking out for a while, he realized there was something like a magic barrier as far as he could see. Like he was inside of it. That definitely wasn’t normal

He tore his eyes out of the sky to look down, and that’s where the barrier became most obvious.

Not only was the barrier a slight blue tint at the base, it also became apparent what was inside of it and what wasn’t. Inside, there seemed to be a well-cared for garden, mostly filled with flowers. Outside, there was a wild forest, mostly filled with trees. He supposed that’s where he came from.

He heard footsteps, and voices, approaching, and quickly backed away from the window (he hadn’t noticed when he began leaning on it) when two people got in and flipped what looked like an old fashioned light switch.

It was sudden, and he couldn’t help but hiss and cover his eyes quickly. If he was quick to adapt to darkness, it was natural it always took him long to adapt in well-lit areas.

It seemed liked his reaction got the interest of the two that walked in. He heard an unknown female voice whisper out “Oh, dear,” While Oswald’s slightly more familiar one said louder “Oh, oops, sorry about that.”

 “Ugh,” he groaned out, “it’s fine,” He slowly pulled his hands away, blinking rapidly to force his eyes to adapt, “It’s alright now, I think.”

“Ok, good,” Oswald walked over, “I wanted to introduce you to someone.”

He looks over at his companion, “I wonder who,” he replied, dry.

He expected her to be annoyed, but she just giggled.

“Yeah, anyways, this is my wife,” What, “Ortensia!”

“Pleasure to meet you,” She said, doing a formal curtsy.

“Uh, same, I guess.” He replied bobbing down his head a little because it was the best he could manage.

Now that he was seeing Oswald better, he assumed he was a rabbit like the king was a mouse, and following that logic, Ortensia was a cat of some sort. Like Oswald, her fur was short and black, and she had shorter white fur on her face. She was wearing a long dress that reached her ankles, and she was barefoot like Oswald. The dress seemed to be simple, in a very light pink, and like Oswald’s shirt, it had long, loose sleeves, except these closed off at the cuffs, which were white and extended in little triangles to the back of her hands. Also like Oswald, she wore a darker vest over the dress, done in a shade of pink that seemed magenta.  She also had a slim golden belt that looped three times around her waist. She wore a flower crown made all with yellow flowers. Her eyes were pink.

“Alright, so,” He turned over to Oswald, “Mind telling me what happened? Where am I and how I ended up here?”

“Ah, yes, that’s right,” Oswald scratched his chin, “After that Fire Behemoth knocked you down and got itself killed in the process, I healed you. I… was running out of Magic, so I did the best I could.”

He looked down at his scarred chest, “…Go on.”

“Anyways, after that I carried you here,” He gestured around, “This is the castle I told you about, by the way. I had Ortensia heal you as well, since she was full on Magic.”

“…How did you carry me?” Vanitas asked, confused, “I’m easily three times your size. Maybe four.”

He flapped his hand, dismissive, “Training with a Keyblade that’s a little taller than you gives you a lot of arm strength, believe me.”

He squinted at Oswald, “Did you just drag me here?”

He looked away, “Um,” is all he offers, while Ortensia looks at him with a knowing look. “That’s- that’s unimportant. What matters is that I got you here and you’re mostly fine now, but there was something else me and Ortensia wanted to check.”

He raised and eyebrow, “What is it?”

Ortensia speaks, “Well, Oswald told me that it looked like you were feeling unwell when he first found you, and he also took notice of it taking you a long time to manage to summon your Keyblade, despite it otherwise looking like you had experience with it,” He looked over at Oswald. He hadn’t expected him to take notice of all that, “So, he and me were thinking that maybe the issue you have is with your heart, if anything.”

“My heart?” He repeated.

“Yep,” Oswald says, “Keyblade are weapons from the heart, and physically it doesn’t look like anything’s wrong, so it being a heart problem seems likely.”

“Alright,” He crossed his arms, “And how you plan on proving it?”

“Well,” Ortensia says, “You see, I have a special ability to be able to see people’s hearts.”

What, “I’m- Excuse me?”

Oswald nodded, “Yeah, it’s a pretty unique ability you don’t see every day. But it has a downside.”

“I can only do it if the person allows me too,” Ortensia finished, “So to be able to confirm our theory, you’ll have to allow me to check on it.”

His thoughts must have showed on his face, because Oswald follows it up with a “You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Really quickly.

“I…” He started, and trailed off. If she sees his heart, then for sure she’ll be able to tell something is wrong with him, but if he refuses, they’ll suspect something as well.

Deciding that it’s better to affront things straight on than to run and hide, he took a deep breath, “Ok,” he groaned, “Tell me what I have to do.”

Ortensia smiled, encouraging, “Just give me your hands,” She said, and approached him.

He did as she said. Her grip is soft, something he can break free from at any moment, “Now close your eyes. That’ll make it easier for me.”

“Alright,” He whispered out, and complied.

Something happened. He couldn’t see it, but he could definitely feel it. Something around him shifts and suddenly it doesn’t feel like he’s on a bed anymore.

When he opened his eyes, there was no room. There was only darkness except from…

Ortensia, right in front of him, her eyes still shut in concentration. She seemed to be on a crystalline platform that emerged a pink light, painting her features. He couldn’t see it wholly, but it seems the pink gets broken by other colors further away.

He looked down. There’s no light where he is. He couldn’t even see the platform. There’s a dark fog that covers everything around him. That covers his platform.

He’s not dumb. He knew. These are Stations of Awakening. At least, Ortensia’s is. In his side, there’s nothing. He was definitely sitting against something, at least, but nothing as impressive as what Ortensia had. His Station was bare.

Incomplete. Since he was made.

“Ok, that is enough.”

His eyes closed, almost automatically, like a reflex. When he opened them, he was back on the room again, and Ortensia was softly dropping his hands.

She turned to Oswald, “It’s what we thought.”

“What… you thought?”  Vanitas asked, confused.

Oswald and Ortensia looked at each other for a second, after which Oswald took a step closer to him, “Vanitas, can I ask you something?”

“Depends on what.”

Oswald looked away, “Well…” He took a deep breath, “Vanitas, you…”

“You wouldn’t happen to be someone else’s darkness given form, would you?”

He had called his Keyblade before he knew.

It sent pain all through his body, a sharp sting like getting shocked that wouldn’t go away as he held Void Gear tight in his hands and pointed it at Oswald.

“Vanitas-“

“How do you know that?!” He was kneeling on the bed. He should jump out of it and actually stand but the pain wasn’t going away. “Who- who told you?!” He tried to reach into the shadows, into his useless heart.  Maybe he could call the Unversed like this, but he came up empty handed. No one was coming to help him out, “What are you going to DO?!” There was a slight pain in his throat, and he was out of breath. That’s how he realized he had been yelling.

Oswald didn’t call his Keyblade. Instead, he raised his hands where Vanitas could see them, and spoke, “No one told me anything, I- we just figured it out on our own!”

“LIAR!” Vanitas didn’t think his voice had been this loud in his life, “There’s no way you could have just ‘figured this out.’ It literally never happened before me, there’s literally no one else like me!”

“ _Yes_ it had and _yes_ there is!” Ortensia yelled back from the corner of the room, “You’re pointing a Keyblade at him right now!”

“I-” He started before her words registered. When they did, it was like he immediately ran out of steam. He lowered his Keyblade a little as he began looking from Ortensia to Oswald and then back. An uncomfortable silence sat one the room until he managed to figure out how words worked again, and even then he just let go of a small, “What.”

Oswald laughed, awkwardly, “Surprise?”

A part of him didn’t believe it. They were lying to him, it was impossible that was true, he should be smarter than to fall for that, and yet…

Oswald’s darkness was far greater than anyone else he had met. Not even the Seeker of Darkness, who himself was supposed to be a Heartless, was as full of darkness as he was. The only other person who he felt had this much darkness was… himself. He had nothing else to compare him to.

He looked at Oswald, and their eyes meet. Yellow eyes, like him, but not quite like his Master. Yellow eyes that have always been yellow, that didn’t change as he grew and choose the path of darkness.

He was sure, for a second, he didn’t choose. It was just how things were, and that was that.

Oswald let his hands down slowly, “You were badly hurt on the Light Worlds, weren’t you?” He asked, looking down, “You were hurt, you thought you were going to die, you faded… and woke up here,” He looked at him, “Right?”

He let his Keyblade down, and let it fade away. The pain stopped, and his now empty hands clutched at the mattress, “Is that what happened to you?” He asked, eyes in the ground.

He saw him nod on his peripheral vision, “Yeah…”

He kept quiet.

Oswald walked over him, pulling his hand over Vanitas’s, “It’s not easy, I know,” He said, “But it’s nice to have someone who understands, right?”

Vanitas smiled, a little, “Yeah, It-” He looked at Oswald, “It is.”

Oswald smiled in return.

They stood like that for a little, before Ortensia cleared her throat, “Well, it’s nice you two reached a mutual understanding, but this can continue tomorrow,” She looked over at the clock, “It’s late, we all have to rest. It’s been a busy day.”

Oswald looked at her, “Right,” and then at him, “You should go back to sleep, it’ll probably make your injuries heal faster.”

He pulled his hands away from Oswald’s, “Right.” He didn’t think he was going to get any sleep, there were too many thought running around in his mind, but it would be best to review them by himself.

Oswald grinned, and turned around. Ortensia was already out of the door, but he stopped before going out of it, “You didn’t have to lie to me, you know.”

Vanitas turned to him, “What?”

“About not wanting to go back to the Light Worlds,” When he turned, he looked conflicted, “You know your Light, don’t you? Don’t you wanna go back to him?”

Vanitas snorted and looked away, “Nah, me and him don’t really get along.”

There was silence on the room before Oswald spoke, “Oh…”

“What, you got along with yours?” He asked, looking at him.

The second he mentioned his light, a soft smile appeared on Oswald’s face, “I did, in fact,” He said, placing a hand on his heart, “We were best friends, we did everything together,” His expression darkened, “I got injured protecting him, that’s how I ended up here.”

“Oh,” Vanitas replied, “Who was he, anyway?”

Oswald smiled yet again, “His name was Mickey.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO.....  
> I'll be honest, the whole concept of this fic began bc of what i described here. i was think of ways for Os to be included into the KH lore and thought "what if he was like Vanitas but with Mickey??" and welp. the rest is history.  
> This and his relationship with Mick (that we'll explore as we go) are VERY big parts of his character in this fic. so watch out for that.  
> 


	4. This is the first page on the history of my growth

_He had been defeated_

_He had tried so hard, and he still failed._

_This- this had been what he had trained to do his entire life. The reason of his existence. And yet…_

_The X-Blade slowly disappeared from his grasp._

_He tried to reach it, desperate. It shouldn’t get away. It couldn’t get away._

_But it did._

_He cried out, but it was too late. He was falling into the abyss._

_Light consumed him. It burned, it burned badly._

_He looked at his brother one last time and then… then…_

Then his eyes snapped open to see a bunch of ceiling.

His breath was ragged, heavy. He took one deep breath, and sat up.

He reached a hand towards his hair and pulled, hard. He was awake. He had fallen asleep and dreamed of something that happened ages ago (or so he was told). It was fine.

As fine as stuff could ever be with him

He sighed, looking down at his lap. He mentally went over everything that happened yesterday (Losing, waking up, meeting Oswald, losing again, waking up again, meeting Ortensia, Oswald being like him-) until he felt his face was annoyingly warm.

He looked at the window accusatory, and found a bright, sunny day outside.

He took in everything he could. Last night was raining, and he got interrupted besides, so he didn’t get to see outside as much as he would like to.

The flowers that were growing near the castle were a colorful rainbow just underneath him. The forest, however, was all dark and grim colors. Two complete opposites separated only by a barrier.

Right, the barrier. It went as far up as he could see from where he was, so he could only guess how big it really was. It seemed like it had been there for a long time. And would continue to be there.

For a second, he entertained to idea to try and destroy it. But something like that would take a while to destroy, or maybe more people than just him. And besides, he still felt like he had been ran over or something.

_“Not ran over, just defeated,”_ a sector of his mind said.

He groaned.

…His face still felt warm.

He (very reluctantly, the bed was so soft and nice) got up, looking around the room once more. Everything was the same as it had been last night.

He walked out of the door.

The first thing he noticed was the plush carpet under his feet. The second was the windows the lined on the wall (why?), all the same in size. Then, the flowers, pretty and colorful, in hanging flowerpots between each window and the next one.

Then, he noticed Oswald walking down the hall.

“Vanitas, you’re awake!”

And Oswald noticed him, sprinting into a little run to reach him

“Hey,” Vanitas greeted, as Oswald skidded to a stop, “What were you doing here?”

“Well, first off, this is kinda my house, so I think I have the right to just be walking around,” Oswald pointed out.

“I-” Vanitas felt like he may be blushing, “I know that, shut up, you know what I meant!” He snarled out, in quick succession.

Oswald snorted, “I know” _Jerk,_ thought Vanitas, “I was actually gonna see if you were still sleeping, I came by earlier, but you were sound sleep, and after what happened yesterday, it felt cruel to wake you up.”

Vanitas rolled his eyes, “You should’ve just waked me up, I mean, I generally don’t even sleep, so what gives.”

Oswald blinked, “You… you don’t sleep?”

 “...No, I… don’t,” Vanitas looked at him, “You do?”

“Yes,” He stated, matter-of-factly, “Why don’t you?”

Vanitas shrugged, “I never really felt the need to, as long as…” He searched in his memories for the word Oswald had used yesterday, “…my Light was sleeping, I could pass, and he sort of did that a lot.”

“…Oh,” Oswald placed a hand on his chin, “I guess that makes sense?” He was silent a few seconds and then, “Actually… now that I think about it, I didn’t really sleep either, but when I meet my Light, he kinda forced me into getting into better habits.”

_When he meet his…?_ “You… you didn’t know your Light?”

Oswald looked away, “Well, uh… that was a whole situation, but we can talk about it later, and compare notes, and whatnot,” He said, sounding a little nervous, “But now, I was also coming here to ask if you wanted breakfast.”

“…I don’t really eat either…”

“But do you want to eat or not?”

Want… did he want to? It had been long enough time of him just following orders that he no longer knew how to tell if he wanted something, if he ever even knew to begin with.

… But eating sounded nice, he didn’t need to but he had occasionally, and it wasn’t unpleasant, not in the way sleeping was (Had he ever had a good dream?), so his mind gave him a big “Why not?” in response.

“Yeah, sure,” He replied after what was probably a too long pause.

Oswald, instead of mentioning it, smiled, “Great.”

///////////////

Oswald lead him down a flight of stairs, past a few corridors and into a more open area, with a table set up with small plates and utensils, Ortensia serving something he couldn’t quite distinguish on the plates.

“Good morning, Vanitas,” She said, smiling softly.

“Good morning,” He replied. He had yet to know more about here outside of her ability to see other’s hearts, but that could wait.

Whatever was being served smelled delicious.

He sit down on and empty chair that was almost too small for him (and how it wasn’t just _too_ small, he didn’t know, he hadn’t seen anyone else on this world other than Oswald and Ortensia and they were both so much smaller than him) and waited until Ortensia was done serving to pick up the utensils.

He didn’t know a lot about food, so he had no idea what was the thing in front of him. It was off-yellow with brown splotches here and there, cut in a semi-circle, and apparently stuffed with something, if the size was any indication. He looked at Oswald and Ortensia from the corner of his eyes, at how they seemed to be cutting small pieces of the thing before eating, and settled to copy them.

It was surprisingly easy to cut, and whatever was inside it was also mostly yellow, with some other things that looked like vegetables. He looked at it suspiciously for another second or so before putting it on his mouth.

The taste was… amazing, like nothing he ate before (not that he had much to compare it to), kind of salty but incredible savory as well. It was soft to chew, the vegetables being just a notch harder. He swallowed and cut another piece, and then another.

He would have continued eating the food, had he not noticed Oswald and Ortensia looking at him with amused expressions.

“What-” He realized he still had food on his mouth. He swallowed and tried again, “What are you looking at?”

“Nothing,” Oswald said at the same time Ortensia chuckled.

Vanitas stared at her, “What was that?”

“Oh, nothing,” She said, easy, “You’re just very cute.”

_Cute._

That word made a jolt go through his heart. He felt himself blushing slightly.

It was a weird feeling. One he didn’t know if he liked or not.

“…Don’t call me that again,” He mumbled out. When confronted with doubt, better to be safe than sorry.

“Alright,” She said. When Vanitas looked up at her, she was back at eating like nothing had happened.

Vanitas opted to do the same.

///////

“Hey, Vanitas, can you come over for a second.”

“Well,” Vanitas replied, dragging out the ‘e’. After breakfast, he had gone to lie down in a couch nearby (why was everything in this place so nice?), and was contemplating if he wanted to get up or not.

“…Yeah, sure,” He replied eventually, getting up and walking over, “What is it?”

“Well, Ortensia and I wanted you to meet a friend of ours,” Oswald said, walking forward.

“A friend of yours?” Vanitas asked, doubtful.

“Yeah,” Oswald said, bright, “He’s nice, don’t worry. He helped me figure myself out when I first came here years ago. He’s kinda like a leader.”

“But don’t you and Ortensia live here at the castle?” Vanitas asked, “Or are there just a bunch of castles around here and it doesn’t really matters?”

“No, we are technically the monarchs, but he’s just… Let’s say more experienced than us,” He replied, “He was never really the king, but he took care of everything for a long time before Ortensia and I were ready.”

That… opened more questions than it answered, but just when Vanitas was about to ask, Ortensia and someone else came into view.

“Oh, hello Vanitas!” Ortensia said, happily.

“So you’re Vanitas, huh?” The other one said, getting closer.

Vanitas had never even _seen_ something like him before. He seemed to be more humanoid than either Ortensia or Oswald, his skin was a dark green, but his nose was a faded orange. He had a grey mustached, two small horns on his head, and short legs.

Not that the legs mattered, anyways, because he was floating.

He hovered closer to Vanitas and extended a hand “I’m Gus, pleased to meet you!”

Vanitas stared at him for a while before blurting out, “What even are you?”

Gus seemed a bit taken aback by the question, before chuckling good naturedly and pulling his hand behind his back, “Ah, of course you’d want to know, my species is not one that can be found on any worlds outside of this one, so,” He cleared his throat, “I’m a Gremlin, we as an species are extremely well-versed in magic, if not the strongest physically.”

“Yeah, I’m seeing the ‘good magicians’ part,” Vanitas pointed out, looking directly at the space between the ground and Gus’s feet.

“Ah, yes, all Gremlins are capable to float, it isn’t as hard of a spell some people think it is,” Gus replied.

“You keep saying that,” Oswald grumbled, arms crossed.

“Well, it holds true among Gremlins, Oz,” Gus said, “You really only have to practice more.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Oswald replied, flapping a hand, “Anyways, who needs to float when you’re as fast as me?”

“And besides, we all know you guys need to fly to reach anything, ever,” Ortensia chimed in, eyes bright with mischief.

“Alright, you two-” Gus began, but had to stop when Ortensia and Oswald began laughing.

It looked like a conversation that had happened many times before, old, but still enjoyed by everyone (or most everyone) involved.

Vanitas truly felt awkward, knowing he didn’t belong there.

“Anyways,” Gus resumed when the laughter died down, “Our species is basically the whole population here, of course excluding Oswald and Ortensia.”

“Wait, you’re… everything that lives here?” Vanitas asked, incredulous.

“Almost everything,” Ortensia pointed out, “There’s me, and Oswald… and now you too, Vanitas!”

“Non-Gremlin squad,” Oswald said, making Ortensia chuckle.

Gus rolled his eyes, “Alright, alright, settle down already,” and then, he turned to Vanitas, “You’re gonna meet the rest of us whenever you want to go around town, but from what I heard, I think that should wait until you feel better, alright lad?”

_Heard from who?_ “Alright,” He replied.

“As for now, I should probably leave,” Gus continued, “You need to rest, and I have to tell the others you’re here.”

“Wait,” Vanitas interrupted, “You’re just gonna tell everybody I’m here?”

“Well, yes, what else am I supposed to do?” Gus replied.

Vanitas opened his mouth, but he really couldn’t think of any reason why he shouldn’t tell people. They lived here, they would find out about him sooner or later.

“And anyways, some folks already saw _someone_ peeping out of the window this morning.”

Vanitas clenched his fists and looked away, a little embarrassed.

As Gus left, Vanitas refused to admit to himself that Oswald patting his arm and giving him a sympathetic smile helped him ease some.

///////

“Vanitas, do you think you could help me with the garden?”

It had been two days since Vanitas had appeared here, and he was starting to feel less like trash.

That meant he had started to complain about being bored, which was probably why Ortensia was calling him over.

He got up from where he was laying down and went out into the garden.

He hadn’t actually been there yet. He had busied himself looking at it from the windows but he didn’t know if he would actually be allowed to go there, since he needed “to rest” and all that.

It seemed that he actually was allowed, however, and he stepped outside.

The sun was shining bright overhead, and Vanitas’ eyes watered a little, not used to being outside without his helmet to block out the light. But he’ll survive.

He found Ortensia in front of some flowers, apparently watering them. Vanitas walked towards her.

“What did you need?”

“Oh, Vanitas,” And she smiled at him, “I was wondering if you wanted to help me water the plants.”

“And you can’t do it yourself because…?”

“Because it seems a bug decided to chew away at my roses,” She replied, pointing at a few leaves with holes through them, “I’ll have to take care of this before it kills the plants.”

Vanitas looked at the damaged flowers, “Yeah, it doesn’t look good,” He said, as if he actually knew anything about plants.

Ortensia heaved a heavy sigh, “I know, right?” She asked, “If you could help me, that’d be greatly appreciated, although it’s alright if you don’t want to or feel up to it.”

_Again with ‘want’,_ “Nah, it’s fine,” Vanitas replied, “I can take care of a few flowers.”

Ortensia smiled, and gave him the watering can, “If you need to refill it, there’s a water tap on the wall to the right of me, and if you have to ask me something, I will be right here.”

“Okay,” He replied, walking towards the other plants.

He couldn’t recognize all of them, there were just so many, all unique in shape and color. He saw a bunch of roses, a few daisies, orchids, lilies…

He saw a bush of strelitzias.

He knew its name because he had asked Marluxia, once, about the plant on his room. It only ever seemed like he came to the Castle that Never Was to look after it, which Vanitas thought was ridiculous.

“It’s just a dumb flower,” He complained, once.

“It’s a strelitzia, it’s far from a simple flower.” Marluxia replied, “And besides, it makes me think… about something I can’t quite remember.”

“How can you think about something you don’t remember?”

“I just can,” He said, “Now go be a pest somewhere else.”

Despite everything, Marluxia had been a great pawn for Master Xehanort. He had done what he had been asked to without question.

On the days leading up to the war, when there wasn’t much more to do, Vanitas caught him staring wistfully at the strelitzia more than once.

He himself got caught looking at the flower, too.

Thinking without remembering…

“Vanitas?”

He jumped from surprise and almost dropped the watering can, “W-What…?”

He turned around. Ortensia was looking at him with worry on her eyes, “Are you alright?”

“Oh, um, yeah, I’m fine,” He replied, looking away. He must have been daydreaming like an idiot. “Sorry about that, I’m just… gonna finish with these flowers.”

He turned away before Ortensia could ask anything else.

//////

“Y’know, I think I’m fine now.”

It had been five days since Vanitas got there.

He had felt his strength slowly but steadily returning to him.

Last night, when he was meant to be sleeping, he even managed to summon his Keyblade without any sort of pain or discomfort (even if he hadn’t told anyone that yet, and even if he had fallen into a dreamless slumber immediately after)

He wasn’t on the same level he was when he fought Ventus, Sora and Aqua, but he felt (tentatively) fine.

“Well, that’s great!” Ortensia said, happily, “I guess, if you want to, you could go into town today.”

Oswald nodded, “Yeah, but of course only if you feel up to it.”

Vanitas smiled daringly, “Of course I do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, finishing up the designs for Oswald and Ortensia: Problem solved!  
> Me, introducing the Gremlins and knowing i have new costumes in mind for them too: And a new one begins!  
> Anyways  
>   
> 
> 
> Also! i added chapter titles! every chapter now has a title. They're all song lyrics btw. Next chapter im gonna say what song it is and providing links. for now, how about trying to guess?  
> (i don't promise i won't use the same song twice or more times btw)


End file.
